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Sam Hyder hired as deputy warden at Luzerne County prison

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Happy birthday Aryanna Brace!

It&#8217;s the annual question that comes up this time of year. Which player is going to get choked up coming out of the tunnel for senior day ceremonies on Saturday?&#8220;That&#8217;s a good question,&#8221; linebacker Brandon Bell said. &#8220;I feel like we&#8217;re all kind of calm, cool, collected guys.&#8221;&#8220;Honestly, I don&#8217;t think any of the seniors,&#8221; defensive end Evan Schwan said. &#8220;I&#8217;m really close with all the guys that are going to be running out.&#8221;For one, this Penn State departing class is about as small as it gets. For another, these guys have already been through just about everything college football could throw at them. So a little stoicism on senior day might be expected.Ultimately, though, Schwan came up with an answer.&#8220;I think Coach Franklin might be the most emotional guy,&#8221; Schwan said. &#8220;Because I think he understands what we&#8217;ve been through over the past four-and-a-half, five years. Yeah, I definitely think he&#8217;ll be the most emotional guy.&#8221;Probably a good bet.&#8220;They&#8217;ve been unbelievable, they really have,&#8221; James Franklin said. &#8220;These guys I&#8217;ll remember forever. I think Penn State will remember those guys forever.&#8220;Their five years, they oughta get together and write a book. Because they&#8217;ve seen a lot in a short period of time and have overcome adversity and stuck together.&#8221;There will be 12 seniors who will be honored before Saturday&#8217;s regular season finale against Michigan State. Six of them &#8212; OL Derek Dowrey, OL Brian Gaia, SS Malik Golden, OL Wendy Laurent, Schwan and LB Nyeem Wartman-White &#8212; arrived on campus in July 2012, right before the NCAA hammered the program with sanctions. Long snapper Ty Yazujian made the team through a tryout in the fall and earned a scholarship prior to his fifth season.Those that decided to stay had no expectations of ever playing in a bowl game, much less competing for a Big Ten championship and remaining alive for a shot at a national title.A few of those well-traveled seniors have used the word &#8220;surreal&#8221; to describe the journey.Though they were originally recruited by Joe Paterno&#8217;s staff, none of them played for the late coach, who was fired as they were finishing up their senior seasons in high school. And while they weren&#8217;t on campus when the chaos of the Jerry Sandusky scandal unfolded, they watched most of their nationally renowned recruiting class disintegrate afterward.Nineteen players would eventually sign a letter of intent the following February. Two would leave the team that summer after the sanctions hit. Two stopped playing football later on but remained at Penn State. Three more down the road ended up transferring. Two were dismissed from the team. And four are already playing in the NFL.The ones that are left could be considered survivors.&#8220;All the struggles we&#8217;ve gone through have brought us closer together as a team,&#8221; Dowrey said. &#8220;When you&#8217;re closer together, you play better. So I think that&#8217;s where we are right now.&#8221;That&#8217;s not to leave out the group of seniors who arrived later. Bell, CB Jordan Smith, OL Paris Palmer and two former walk-ons in WR Gregg Garrity and LB Von Walker all played roles in getting the Nittany Lions to this point. Palmer came in 2015 as a junior college transfer and the others showed up in 2013 without taking a redshirt during their careers.On top of it all, Palmer, Walker and Wartman-White won&#8217;t be able to play Saturday because of season-ending knee injuries.&#8220;Just a group of guys that it didn&#8217;t matter the circumstances,&#8221; Bell said. &#8220;Obviously coming here, staying here, the circumstances didn&#8217;t matter. We wanted to be successful. We knew that wasn&#8217;t going to be easy. The circumstances didn&#8217;t matter to this group.&#8221;The Lions need a win over the Spartans and an Ohio State victory against Michigan to reach the Big Ten title game. Beating Michigan State would push the program to 10 wins for the first time since 2009 and almost certainly send the team to a New Year&#8217;s Six bowl game no matter what else happens across the country.After everything that&#8217;s happened, that would be an impressive legacy for these seniors to leave. But in their minds, there&#8217;s more to it than a bowl game or a trophy.&#8220;How do I want to be remembered?&#8221; Dowrey said. &#8220;I came to Penn State because there was a certain type of guy that went to Penn State. A blue-collar, high-character guy who competed harder than anyone on the field. Did everything right in the classroom. Cared about and helped out his community. Did all these things.&#8220;If that&#8217;s the way we&#8217;re remembered &#8212; as a class that in times of struggle kept that tradition alive &#8212; I&#8217;d be very pleased with that.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State seniors (left to right) Malik Golden, Nyeem Wartman-White and Evan Schwan will be honored before Saturday&#8217;s game against Michigan State. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_psu-seniors20161123142638379-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State seniors (left to right) Malik Golden, Nyeem Wartman-White and Evan Schwan will be honored before Saturday&#8217;s game against Michigan State. </caption0><photoCredit0>Joe Hermitt | AP photo, PennLive.com </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>LAST MEN STANDINGAfter the Jerry Sandusky scandal hit, 19 players signed in Penn State&#8217;s 2012 recruiting class. Only six are left for Saturday&#8217;s senior day festivities.&#8226; QB Steven Bench: Transferred to South Florida in 2013&#8226; DB Da&#8217;Quan Davis: Dismissed from team in 2015&#8226; OL Derek Dowrey: Ten career starts at guard&#8226; OL Brian Gaia: Three-year starter at guard, center&#8226; DB Malik Golden: Starter at strong safety&#8226; WR Jake Kiley: Graduated in 2015&#8226; TE Jesse James: NFL draft pick in 2015, Pittsburgh Steelers&#8226; DL Austin Johnson: NFL draft pick in 2016, Tennessee Titans&#8226; OL Wendy Laurent: Five career starts at guard, center&#8226; WR Eugene Lewis: Graduated, transferred to Oklahoma in 2016&#8226; DB Jordan Lucas: NFL draft pick in 2016, Miami Dolphins&#8226; RB Akeel Lynch: Graduated, transferred to Nevada in 2016&#8226; DL Jamil Pollard: Transferred to Rutgers in 2012&#8226; DL Evan Schwan: Starter at defensive end&#8226; OL Anthony Stanko: Left football in 2012, stayed at PSU&#8226; WR Jonathan Warner: Left football in 2014, stayed at PSU&#8226; LB Nyeem Wartman-White: Starter out with injury&#8226; TE Brent Wilkerson: Dismissed from team in 2016&#8226; DB Trevor Williams: Entered NFL 2016, San Diego Chargers</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</shirttailMeta></div>

Survivors: Senior class helped Penn State rebuild a battered program